What is your favorite UAB memory? Connecting to a new world through faculty and fellow students.

How did UAB prepare you for life? Challenged me in developing as a professional.

Why did you want to be in this profession? My focus (since high school) has revolved around medicine/health, psychology, and education. So being a professor is a natural fit where I am able to interact with and positively influence the next generation.

What would you do if you were given more time in each day? Spend time with family.

With which celebrity or historical figure, current or past, would you most like to have dinner? Jesus

What is your favorite saying or motto? Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path. Proverbs 3:5-6

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? Choose your battles wisely.

What is your life's "theme song"? “Lifesong” by Casting Crowns.

What is your favorite book? The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For?, by Pastor Rick Warren.

How would you like to change the world? Less talking, more listening. This would allow us to work more closely together to be a positive influence.

Why did you choose UAB? At the time, I was deciding between returning to Madrid, Spain to teach English for an additional year or to begin the Master’s program at UAB. After seeing the kind of support and encouragement that the professors provide to the students in the program, I knew that I did not need to hesitate any longer with my decision.

What is your favorite UAB memory? In our English Grammar class, to my surprise, my classmate brought her banjo and had created a song to sing to our class about her grammar lesson. It was definitely one of the funniest moments and brightened everyone’s day.

How did UAB prepare you for life your life? UAB has imparted a strong foundation for my confidence and abilities within my profession.

What made you choose your current profession? I worked with young children in an orphanage in Guatemala. After I left, I knew that I wanted to make a career out of empowering the youth.

What would you do if you were given more time in each day? Recently, I’ve found that I don’t have enough time to read for pleasure. I could use a few extra hours to catch up on a few books that are on my list to read.

Which historical figure do you most identify with and why? Anthony Bourdain because I love to try new foods and he is always partaking in a new delicacy wherever he goes.

What is your motto? “Everything seems impossible until it’s done.”

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? Whether it’s a small town in Alabama or another country on a different continent, it doesn’t matter to me; as long as I’m going somewhere. I have an eagerness for seeing as much of the world as I possibly can.

What is your favorite book? Currently, my favorite is The Alchemist by the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho. It’s a very motivating novel.

How would you like to change the world? I think it’s always better to look at the little things one can do to change the world, such as ways to help people in my daily life. For this reason, I hope to improve the world through educating others and improving other’s access to education.